Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Photo from PEZA/Facebook)
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) has approved P61.69 billion worth of investments in the first eight months of this year, with these business ventures expected to generate tens of thousands of new jobs and tens of millions of dollars in export receipts.
Data provided by the Peza to the Inquirer on Tuesday showed that a total of 31,827 new jobs were expected to be created from the projects the agency has cleared from January to August this year. The estimate is 72 percent higher than the 18,407 jobs that were created from projects approved in the comparable period in 2023.
The number of approved projects also increased to 163 from the 117 projects tallied a year ago.
Big-ticket items coming
“New investments are expected in the coming months as a result of our participation in the China International Fair for Investment and Trade, the Philippine-Singapore Business Investment Summit and other outbound missions lined up for the year,” Peza Director General Tereso Panga said in a separate statement.
READ: Peza approves P9.24B worth of investments in first week of Aug
The next board meeting of Peza is scheduled on Sept. 23, with one of the big-ticket investments worth P50 billion to P60 billion likely to be taken up, according to one source.
Investments registered under Peza enjoy several fiscal and nonfiscal incentives depending on the location and the nature of business.
Fiscal incentives for exporters include an income tax holiday of four to seven years, as well as a special corporate income tax rate of 5 percent or enhanced deductions for 10 years.
Meanwhile, domestic market-focused enterprises are given an income tax-holiday of four to seven years or enhanced deductions for five years.
Peza is targeting to approve at least P200 billion worth of investments this year.
Last year, Peza approvals reached P175.7 billion in value, marking a 24.9 percent increase from the past year.
Approved investments stood at P69.30 billion in 2021, P95.03 billion in 2020, P117.54 billion in 2019, and P140.2 billion in 2018. INQ